Effect of lactulose on bacterial translocation

Objective: To find out if lactulose can prevent the bacterial translocation that is induced by obstructive jaundice in rats. Design: Laboratory experiment. Setting : Teaching hospital, Turkey. Material: 50 male Wistar-albino rats. Interventions: 10 rats were not operated on and used as controls; 20 rats underwent laparotomy and sham ligation of the common bile duct (CBD); 20 had the CBD ligated alone; and 20 had the CBD ligated and were given oral lactulose 2 ml/day until death. All rats were killed after 14 days. Main outcome measures: Presence of Escherichia coli in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), and bacterial overgrowth as indicated by counts of E coli in the caecum. Results: There was significantly less bacterial translocation to MLN in the group that had been given lactulose compared with CBD-ligated and lactulose not given (2/20 compared with 8/20, p = 0.06). There was also a significant reduction in the number of Gram negative bacteria in that group (p = < (0.01). Conclusion: Lactulose seems to reduce the incidence of translocation from the gut to MLN in rats with obstructive jaundice.